Environmental Change and Organisational Capability in Change Management

Learning and Teaching Strategy

Upon the successful completion of this module, the student should be able to demonstrate the ability to

critically analyse the relationship between environmental change and organisational capability;

critically analyse the nature of change and evaluate complex concepts relating to leadership in relation to change management;

explore contemporary issues and their impact on business management;

analyse and evaluate the relationship between organisational culture and change

Through practical activities and seminar presentations, students will be introduced to appropriate theoretical models and methodological frameworks to inform personal experiences and examples drawn from the workplace. Critical reflection will be integral to each formative exercise which will challenge each student to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding in a variety of ways appropriate to the workplace. 

Alvin Toffler’s famous comment ‘There is only one constant today and that is change’ was made some decades ago, but now change itself is changing at a fast rate. The phenomenal pace of change in countries such as China and India is impacting on older, established economies in the western world. With such change comes uncertainty and insecurity. Organisations, even those in the public sector where ‘steady state’ was ever the watchword, can no longer sit back. All organisations are being increasingly challenged by change. Consequently, they need to understand the issues that drive the need for change in their own organisations. This means that organisations need to have a proactive approach to strategic change management.

In order to demonstrate your understanding of these issues, select an organisation of your choice that you are familiar with and write a report for the Board of Directors taking into consideration the following issues:

Analyse the recent history of the organisation and explain how changes in the external environment have impacted on the company.

Develop a model for change, incorporating issues related to strategic change in that organisation including how the change was managed and the leadership style.

Evaluate the impact of organisational culture on the change management programme.